I am in the process of building an Atlas passenger station:
I’m going to finish it without the roof gables, but the Atlas roof has no shingles where the gables are suppose to go. I was thinking of putting either a rolled roof or a standing seam metal roof over the stock Atlas one.
Any suggestions of the best way to proceed?
Nick
Wow, I just built mine yesterday with the gables, I thought it turned out ok but I didn’t bother painting it (20/20 hindsight, will be a pain to paint it now but it was 15.00 so it wouldn’t kill me to buy another).
Just curious why you wouldn’t want the gables, maybe make it look to modern or something I’d guess?
As crazy as this sounds what about taking an existing section of roof, using it as a master, lube it up, paint on caulk, let it dry, peel it off, lube up the casting (or whatever you’d call it), put another thing coat of caulk, and that “could” recreate the shingle effect?
another option is to take the other two parts that comes with the kit, using a tool to cut holes where the gables go, measure the roof of the other two parts, cut matching sections out of the two parts, glue them in where the gables would go?
Last option that comes to mind, sand the 3 nubs down so they are flush with the other flat sections (where the gables would go), “paint” on a very thin layer of “caulk” or even the “plastic glue” and “score” the area with an exacto knife to mimic the other shingles.
Maybe just thought starters but I’d hope one of those would have potential.
I’d just get some shingles, then make a new roof of thin plastic using the old one as a pattern, then cover it with the new shingles. It’s not hard and it looks great.
See if this doesn’t help: http://www.papercreek.com/texture.html
I don’t see how you will get that section to look like it belongs after adding something atop it, no matter how thin it is because to get a decent shingle look you will need something nearly 1 mm thick. If it were mine, I would either bite it and do the gables, or use a cut-off disk and remove the plain areas, and then try to get the roof portions for the gables, if they match the rest of the roof, to fit. Otherwise, invert the roof, if that will work, and apply an aftermarket modelling detail kit for shingled roofs. Or, cut fresh styrene and stick detailing layers of shingles for HO scale.
I’d take off the roof completely and get a set of Campbells Shingles. They come with a cardboard base for the roof. Cut the cardboard to replace the original roof, and then apply the shingles. Careful painting - don’t use a wash because it will warp the cardboard roof.
My newbness has shown through, I didn’t even know something like that existed ROFL.
It looks like some “card stock” paper would be possible but I agree with selector, it will be detectable. You’d have to replace the roof because how the gables are made aren’t conducive to the hole you’d need to fill, Let alone attempting to cut them, etc.
Re-roofing the entire thing with that papercreek texture stuff would be best IMHO, or just put on the gables.
Thats exactly what I was suggesting. Use the old roof as a pattern to make a new one of thin plastic, then cover it with shingles. You could use and brand of shingles you like, I was just offering those as a suggestion.
Just put the gables on it, and go on to something else. Some things aren’t worth agonizing over.[8D]
Hi nbrodar
Unless for prototypical accuracy the gables not required I would put them on.
It looks like you may have left it a bit late to mod the roof as it looks all glued together.
Regards John
Actually it is amazing how different this depot looks without the gables. WITH the gables it looks like the Atlas station that is on dozens of other layouts. Without gables it looks far more distinctive, so if we are counting votes here I vote to leave the gables off.
In addition to the good idea of using the existing roof as a template to build a different one and start afresh on the shingles (and Campbell’s shingles still look great to me after all these years, but having said that, a depot such as this would be as likely to have had slate shingles as cedar shakes) another possibility is to sand off the shingles on the existing roof and do what many railroads did with depots this age: reroof it with tar paper.
Another option is to partly reroof the depot with shingles but that would likely be done in a square or rectangle, not just where the gables used to be. So sand off just some of the cast on shingles in the area of the gables but not just in a triangle, and re-roof that part.
Dave Nelson
The link I gave also has tar paper in different colors, just scroll down.
Thanks for all the help.
Dave hit the nail on the head. With the gables it’s the Atlas station everyone has. Without them and a different roof material it’s something more unique.
For those that haven’t built one, the Atlas roof comes cast in one piece.
I do like the tar paper idea.
Nick
Philip’s right on the money: use the original roof as a template, make a new roof out of sheet styrene, and add new shingle material.
And if you want to make the structure look LESS like the Atlas depot, I’d suggest reducing the height of the roof as well. If you’re looking to make a “typical” small town depot out of the kit, the peak of the roof should only be a couple of feet higher than the side walls:
[:-^]
We all like action on our pikes. Why don’t you cut out those sections, place a few balsa stringers in to represent roof trusses and have a couple of prieser figures up there doing a roof repair job. Now that “WOULD” draw attention…
The “Wobbly” lives on in the Great White North.
James:1 Verse:5
Keep smiling it looks good on you…
Hey now! Thats not bad!
Provided the “weather” is agreeable…